Of Secret Admirers and Valentine's Day
by hal.elle
Summary: "Secret admirer," Leo puts in immediately. "You've got a secret admirer." Jason wrinkles his nose. "That's almost as bad as having a Valentine." / In which Jason has a secret admirer and realizes that Valentine's Day isn't as bad as he'd thought. PercyxJason


**AN: I swore I wouldn't write a Valentine's fic. Then this happened. Sigh.**

**Dedicated to Taffeh A. Llama-be my Valentine, bae?**

**Disclaimer: Not mine!**

_**Happy Valentine's Day!**_

**~halestorm**

* * *

><p>"I'm not associating with you throughout Valentine's Day," Jason tells Piper, shaking his head. "You, Silena, Drew, and Mitchell get <em>way <em>too into it to be healthy."

"You only say that because you're a hateful cynic who doesn't understand what it's like to be in love," Piper retorts, her words harsh but her tone playful.

"Valentine's Day is ridiculous," Leo interjects. "Like I need to be assigned a day by society to love my significant other."

"Nico still refusing to celebrate with you?" Piper asks, a knowing smile tugging on the corners of her lips, and Leo heaves a sigh.

"You know it," he admits, grimacing. "Sometimes I wish he were a little less Shaun of the Dead and a little more Sixteen Candles."

Jason rolls his eyes. "I think it's great that he doesn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day. It's a stupid tradition, anyways."

"You're just pissed because you never got any Valentine's cards in your box in elementary school," Leo says, snorting. "Every single year, all the way through sixth grade, there was not a single, goddamn card in your box that wasn't from me."

"Fuck off," Jason snaps in reply, and Leo laughs.

"Don't give up on love just because you never got a card, Jay!" he chirps. "Love will melt your icy heart in due time! It'll strike you like lightning or something, and you'll be absolutely smitten. Maybe you'll even celebrate Valentine's Day."

"Not likely," Jason scoffs, stopping at his locker and twirling in his combo. Leo and Piper stand off to his side, patiently waiting for him to grab the books he needs to take home before the exit the school building.

Jason pulls his locker open, and a scrap of notebook paper flutters to the ground. The three friends stare at it, and Jason squats down to pick it up.

" 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' " Jason reads from it, and wrinkles his nose.

Piper and Leo burst into laughter. "Oh, my god," Piper says, gasping for air, "is this an early Valentine's note?"

Leo snatches the note from Jason's hands. "No, look! There's more to it than just that." He clears his throat, and reads off the rest. " 'Well, who the fuck knows what a summer day looks like, anyways? Like seriously Shakespeare, could you be anymore cryptic? Fuck that poetry nonsense. You've got a nice ass, Grace. Be my Valentine?' "

Piper laughs even harder, and Jason blushes, taking the note back from Leo. "It's not signed," he mutters, slightly disappointed.

"Sounds like someone is ahead of the game," Piper says, grinning as she catches her breath. "Valentine's Day isn't even for another week."

"Why wouldn't they sign it?" Jason asks, looking up at her and frowning. "You can't just ask someone to be your Valentine if they don't even know who you are."

"Secret admirer," Leo puts in immediately. "You've got a secret admirer."

Jason wrinkles his nose. "That's almost as bad as having a Valentine."

"Oh, please," Piper says, shaking her head. "Whoever put this in your locker seems like just your type. Sarcastic, cynical, knows a little poetry… I see romance in your future, babe."

Jason heaves a sigh. "I don't want to go out with someone who wants me as a Valentine. Valentine's Day is just a shitty excuse for companies to make money off of poor saps like you two by demanding you buy things for a boyfriend or girlfriend _every fucking year_."

Piper and Leo exchange looks, and Jason shoves the note into his pocket, grabbing his books and stacking them in his backpack before leading them down the hall.

"Oh, Jason," Piper sighs, "one day, you'll change your mind."

* * *

><p>The second note is written on pink construction paper, but still in that same scrawling handwriting as the first. Jason laughs when he reads it, before reminding himself that he definitely doesn't think that the notes are cute.<p>

_You're real cute and all, but honestly you're just kind of my last chance to not go stag to the Valentine's dance_, the note reads. _Not that I wouldn't still pursue you if you didn't want to go. Because you're really sexy. And smart. And, can we talk about your ass? Be my Valentine?_

Jason shakes his head and fights off the smile that struggles to find place on his lips, and Piper materializes behind him.

"What's that?" she asks, already swiping it from his hands. Her eyes light up when she catches sight of it. "Ooh, another note?"

"Shut up," Jason orders, his cheeks flushing. Piper waggles her eyebrows at him, then reads the note and laughs.

"He's almost desperate!" she exclaims, laughing, and Jason arches an eyebrow.

"He?"

"He," Piper confirms. "I decided it was a he last night."

"How so?" Jason asks, cocking his head to the side.

"Because a girl wouldn't be blunt enough to comment on your ass," Piper retorts. "And the prose would be more flowery. Know any guys who fancy your ass?"

"Besides Leo?" Jason jokes, then shakes his head. "Nah. Most of the guys at Goode are straight, Pipes. Me, Leo, and Nico might be the only ones out of the closet, anyway."

Piper considers, a frown tugging at her lips. "No, Ethan Nakumara is out of the closet."

"Yeah, but he's got a boyfriend," Jason points out. "Alfred or something."

"Alabaster," Piper corrects absent-mindedly. She shakes her head. "I've got to run, Jase. English is in five minutes."

Piper takes off, waving at him over her shoulder, and Jason makes his way to the gym, where he changes into his gym shorts and t-shirt, glancing around for any guys who might be ogling his ass. None except for Leo, who gives him a flirtatious wink and proceeds to slap his ass.

Jason sighs, shaking his head. He can't let this secret admirer bullshit get to him.

* * *

><p>By the third note, Jason has to admit that he kind of likes having a secret admirer.<p>

This note is a little crumbled, and some of the Sharpie ink is smeared, but it's on blue construction paper instead of cheesy red or pink, and it reads: _I've changed my mind. Forget about the Valentine's dance. It's for losers, anyways. We should go get dinner in a grimy bar and talk about football and do un-Valentine's things. Not that either of us are old enough to drink. But we could get away with it. If you're into that. Be my Valentine?_

"This one's my favorite," Leo decides, handing the note back to Jason.

Jason shakes his head, biting his lip in a futile attempt to stop his grin. "He's contradicting himself. He says he wants to do un-Valentine's things with me, but then he asks me to be his Valentine."

"Maybe you should say yes," Piper says. "Be his Valentine."

Jason rolls his eyes. "I can't give an answer if I don't know who he is or how to reach him."

"That's true," Piper says, frowning. "But—"

"Hey, Jason!"

Thalia steps into Jason's path, three of her friends following behind her, all in deep conversation. One of them, a guy who's a smidgen shorter than Jason, looks over at him, smiling brightly and waving before turning back to Annabeth and Luke, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Jason can't even remember his name—Peter or something—since he just started hanging out with Thalia recently, but he does know Luke and Annabeth really well, so he waves at them and turns back to his sister.

"Hey, Thalia," he says, arching an eyebrow. "Did you need something?"

"Not really," she says, pulling the construction paper note out of his hands. "I just wanted to see this for myself. Piper told me you were getting notes from a secret admirer."

"Piper!" Jason exclaims, shooting a half-hearted glare at his best friend, who smiles innocently as Thalia reads the note aloud.

"Wow," Thalia says, shaking her head. "This is really bad. Pitifully awful. Does he realize he's contradicting himself by asking you to be his Valentine right after asking you to do not-Valentine's things with him?"

"Thank you," Jason says, pointing at Thalia and giving Piper a look. "Thalia understands how ridiculous it is."

"Oh, please," Piper scoffs. "You're in love with the idea of the guy behind the notes. Don't even lie."

"I'm not," Jason protests, blushing and snatching the note out of Thalia's fingers, tucking it gingerly away in the pocket of his backpack.

Thalia and Piper exchange amused glances, and Jason scowls at them, flipping Thalia off as he brushes past her.

"I'll see you later!" she calls after him, her tone bright and cheerful as she laughs, and Jason wonders how he was cursed with an older sister who liked to approach him at school and make his life hell.

* * *

><p>Jason slumps into the desk with a sigh, rolling his shoulders as he pulls the note out of his back pocket, spreading it open on the desk to reread the note.<p>

_I've decided that Valentine's Day is totally lame, right? But you make Valentine's Day un-lame. Just by existing. Not because you don't hate it, because I know you do, but because you make me want to do the suit and tie and fucking Italian loafers thing. Be my Valentine?_

This time, the note is scrawled on notebook paper in blue pen, but there's a small sketch in the bottom corner of the page that features a realistic heart bleeding out, and the words "you pierced my heart with one glance of those fantastic, sharp blue eyes" written next to it in a dialogue bubble.

Jason's frustrated because if he looked at his secret admirer, he might know him, but he could've just made eye contact with a stranger in the hallway. He's also frustrated because there should be a comma between "sharp" and "blue," but mostly he's frustrated because he just wants to _know _who his Valentine is.

Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Jason doesn't know how his secret admirer could still remain secret when tomorrow is his last chance to woo Jason. (Though Jason has to admit, he does feel a _little_ wooed.)

"Another note from your secret admirer?" Thalia's friend (Philip?) drops into the desk beside Jason, swinging his backpack off his shoulder and to the floor.

Jason sighs, nodding, and slides it across the desk for the older boy to see. He (Paul, maybe?) looks surprised by the gesture, but picks up the note, reading it over as his cheeks flush and he quirks a brow.

"Italian loafers?" he asks Jason, looking up at him, and Jason flings his hands up into the air.

"Who the fuck knows?" He slides down into his desk, taking the note back from Thalia's friend (Patrick, perhaps?) and stuffing it into his backpack pocket with the other notes. "Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and he keeps asking me to be his Valentine, and I just—how am I supposed to say yes if I don't even know who he is?"

"You're saying yes?" Thalia's friend (Pedro?) asks, looking surprised.

Jason groans, dropping his head onto his desk. "Yes? I don't know. Maybe. I don't even know who he is. What if it's someone I hate?"

Thalia's friend laughs. "I don't know. If you like him from his notes, why wouldn't you like him as a person?"

Jason mutters something about people being different on paper, and Thalia's friend pats his back.

"Maybe he'll reveal himself to you tomorrow, or something."

Jason grunts, lifting his head off of his desk. "I don't even know why I'm telling you about all this. I don't even know you're name."

"Percy," Thalia's friend says, looking slightly amused and a little crest-fallen. "My name's Percy."

Jason cocks his head to the side. "Do we always have English together?"

Percy groans. "Um, yes. Every day. For the last three years."

Jason wrinkles his brow. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Huh." Jason shakes his head. "I've never seen you in here before."

Percy shrugs. "I'm used to it."

Mrs. Kerr calls the students to attention, and the two teenagers fall silent.

* * *

><p><em>Be my Valentine? If yes, meet me in the courtyard by the creepy Cupid water fountain after school. If no, let me die in peace.<em>

Jason looks up from the note, glancing around the courtyard. School ended ten minutes ago, and Jason is starting to think that his admirer isn't going to show. Or that it might just have been an embarrassing ploy by one of the other guys on the football team to see if they could get Jason to get caught up in Valentine's Day. Hell, that sounds like something Piper and Leo would put together, forget the football team.

"Jason?"

Jason glances up as Percy approaches him, running his fingers through his shaggy hair.

"Hey," Jason acknowledges. "What's up?"

Percy stares at him, coming to a stop in front of him, glancing up at the chipped Cupid statue on top of the water fountain. Then he looks back down at Jason, wrinkling his brow.

"Oh, you know. I'm just admiring Cupid's ass."

Jason laughs, but then he realizes that Percy is looking at him intently, like he's expecting something. The laughter dies in Jason's throat immediately.

"Holy shit," he says, blinking. "_You're _my secret admirer?"

Percy blushes and shrugs, glancing back up at Cupid. "Ta-da?"

Jason stares at him. "But we don't even know each other!"

Percy rolls his eyes, even as his cheeks flush a darker shade of red. "I've sat next to you in English ever since they stopped alphabetizing our seating arrangements. I spend most weekends at your house. We actually wrote an English paper together last semester. You really don't remember any of that?"

Jason stares blankly at Percy, slowly shaking his head. "No, sorry. I mean, you and Thalia, sure. But are you positive we wrote an English paper together?"

Percy blushes. "Well, it was like a group thing. With Reyna and Grover. But still. We spent an hour in the library together before Reyna took over and kicked us out."

Jason frowns. "Oh, I remember that. Sort of. I don't remember you being there, though."

Percy shifts, obviously uncomfortable. "So, basically I've spent the last three years hyperaware of your existence, and you didn't even know who I was until yesterday."

Jason blushes. "I'm sorry."

Percy sighs, dropping onto the edge of the fountain next to Jason. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to people forgetting I exist."

The two sit quietly together, listening to the rush of water from the fountain, and then Percy leaps to his feet. "Well, I have swim practice. Like it started ten minutes ago. Coach Hedge is going to kill me. But, you know, if you want to do something tonight, you should call me. Or something. Thalia has my phone number."

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, then waves and turns, walking back up towards the school. Jason jumps up from the edge of the fountain, running after him.

"Percy, wait!"

Percy pauses, turning back to face Jason—just as Jason catches up and collides with Percy's chest, knocking their mouths together in the most awkward, uncoordinated kiss.

Jason pulls back, cheeks burning red as he coughs. "That's not at all how I imagined that going."

But Percy is grinning, eyes slightly glazed over. "You don't even know me!" he says, echoing Jason's earlier sentiments.

Jason laughs, glancing down at his shoes. "Yeah, well. People do crazy things on Valentine's Day. Pick me up at eight for the dance tonight, but I swear, I'm going in jeans. And sneakers."

Percy grins. "I wouldn't ask for anything more." Then he leans down and kisses Jason for real—slow and proper, their lips moving against each other's tenderly as Jason wraps his arms around Percy's neck and Percy's hands slide down Jason's back to grope his ass.

Percy pulls away with a laugh. "Oh, my god," he says, his eyes twinkling. "Your ass is even nicer to touch than to look at."


End file.
